One of the considerations of owning an automobile is protecting it from the elements. Many people have garages or carports, but in some urban areas, this is not practical. In most cities, street parking or alley parking is most common. Beaches often provide parking in large, open, sandy lots that offer no protection for cars from the damaging rays of the sun. Further, even if the owner of the automobile has a garage at home, he is not guaranteed a cover for his car when he reaches his destination. For owners of expensive or classic cars, whether protection will be provided is a major factor in deciding whether the automobile will be driven to a particular destination.
Portable car covers have been designed for protecting automobiles from the elements. Most automobile covers are simply tarps that are used to cover the car, and are attached to the car in some manner, such as by tying the tarp to the bumper. These tarp style covers are not adequate to truly protect the car. The tarps contact the car, and may sometimes cause damage to the finish due to abrasion. Further, if left in contact with the automobile for too long, moisture can develop between the tarp and the car body, where it is trapped and can cause rust.
Other automobile covers have been designed which do not contact the body of the car. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,977 to Flores et al. discloses a portable frame with an attached tarp-like cover. The frame consists of telescoping tubes that provide a shape for the cover. The frame is supported by parking the automobile on four base portions that are attached to the bottom of the frame. While this device provides some protection for an automobile, it is difficult to assemble. Because the automobile must be driven onto the base portions, these must be in place before the car is parked. This makes the device impractical in city parking situations, where a car must usually be parallel-parked in a small space. This car cover is also impractical for use with an automobile that is parked on a hill.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,030 to Johnson discloses a similar automobile cover. This cover is an improvement in that it includes cross-members on the frame, making the cover more stable, particularly in windy weather. Like the Flores et al. device, however, the automobile must be driven onto four base portions in order to anchor the frame. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,236 discloses a frame that includes a removable spacer resting on the roof of the automobile that provides an incline for causing rain to run off the sides of the cover. U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,321 to Moyet-Ortiz discloses a similar cover, albeit one with a more complex frame that more completely covers the automobile. All of these devices require that the automobile be driven onto base units to anchor the frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,036,583 to Miller discloses another automobile cover. While this device only requires two base portions to support the frame, it is still required that the automobile be driven onto the base portions to anchor the device. U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,083 also discloses an automobile cover that entirely encloses the parked car. However, the automobile must be driven onto a platform in order to anchor the frame. This renders the device less than portable.
While the reference devices all provide automobiles with differing degrees of protection from the elements, the designs are somewhat impractical. Some do not provide enough protection, only shading the automobile from directly above. The devices that provide more coverage are more complicated, making them more difficult to assemble and store. All of the devices require at least some base to be put in place before the automobile is parked, making them impractical, especially for city use, or when covering the automobile is an afterthought. What is needed is a simple, portable automobile cover that provides protection for the car, is easy to assemble and store, and which can be completely assembled and put into place after the car has already been parked.